Hartsel Area Historic Sites

Hartsel Area

BUCKLEY RANCH

CR 59National Register - designated 1/28/2000The Buckley Ranch was originally settled by James B. Putnam in 1881. Putnam raised cattle and hay and by 1886 had expanded his holdings to more than 8 hundred acres.

In 1899, Ada Harrington Buckley acquired the property and grew the ranch into one of Park County's largest sheep operations. The ranch is now part of the Spinney Mountain State Wildlife Area.

COLORADO SALT WORKS

3858 Highway 285National Register - designated 2/1/2001South Park's salty marshes had long been used by American Indians as a source for salt. Early pioneer Charles L. Hall saw a business opportunity and erected the Colorado Salt Works on Salt Creek near present day Hartsel. Perhaps one of Colorado's earliest industries, the Salt Works evaporated salt-laden spring water to produce the much-valued crystal salt until 1870.

HARTSEL DEPOT

12888 Highway 24Park County Historic Landmark - designated 12/03/2009Once one of the busiest freight and passenger depots on the Colorado Midland Railroad line, the Hartsel train depot brought in visitors to the popular Hartsel Hot Springs and shipped hundreds of tons of hay and cattle to the Front Range.

HARTSEL SCHOOLS

24 Valley Dr.Park County Historic Landmark - designated 2/13/2003First built on Hartsel Springs Ranch property in the late 1800s, the Hartsel School buildings were moved to the present location in town sometime before 1908. The school not only provided education for generations of Hartsel area children, but also acted as the social center of the community, hosting box suppers, Christmas programs, card playing, plays, and community meetings.

SALT WORKS RANCH

3858 Highway 285National Register - designated 2/2/2001Established in 1862 by Charles L. Hall, the Salt Works Ranch is still owned by Hall's descendents. Many of the original buildings, including an impressive Second Empire style ranch house, remain intact and the property continues as a working cattle ranch.

SANTA MARIA/EM RANCH

3482 CR 439National Register - designated 10/15/2002Named for the Santa maria Springs located on the property, the ranch was known as the EM Ranch when first established by Hardy Epperson in 1874. The ranch headquarters includes a variety of historic buildings, including a large ranch house, bunkhouse, barn, blacksmith shop, shed, chicken coop, well house and several outhouses. Zebulon Pike's exploration party reportedly camped on land now part of the Santa Maria Ranch in December of 1806.

THREE-MILE GULCH

Hartsel vicinityNational Register - designated 9/13/2011The Threemile Gulch Prehistoric Archaeological District in Colorado is historically important due to the minimally disturbed and distinctive record of prehistoric human settlement found there. The area was repeatedly reoccupied from Late Paleoindian (a term for the first peoples who entered and inhabited North and South America during the final glacial episodes of the Ice Age) through the Late Prehistoric periods, also called the Pre-Contact period.